Dropship Growth Leader

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Dropship Manager to lead our team in driving growth and success of our dropship brand portfolio. This key role will establish and nurture strong relationships with brand partners, vendors, and internal stakeholders across Digital, Merchandise, and Marketing to ensure seamless onboarding, operational excellence, and commercial performance.

This role will play a pivotal part in accelerating marketplace growth by onboarding new vendors that expand our assortment and align with our brand positioning. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and growing existing vendors by managing their performance, enhancing their promotional programs, increasing their media exposure, and negotiating favourable commercial terms to maximise sales and profitability.

As a trusted point of contact and advocate for vendor success, this role will work closely with internal teams across Digital, Merchandise, and Marketing to deliver cohesive trade plans, optimise vendor visibility, and drive category performance.

To achieve these goals, the Dropship Manager will collaborate with Ecommerce Operations and Technology to ensure operational excellence, from efficient vendor integrations and stock accuracy to fulfilment SLAs. Through these efforts, this role will deliver a seamless, scalable vendor experience that drives customer satisfaction, incremental revenue, and sustainable marketplace growth.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the acquisition of new vendors that align with our brand positioning and marketplace strategy.
• Oversee the work of the Onboarding Specialist to ensure smooth vendor assessment, ranging, and trading term negotiations.
• Define commercial opportunities with Merchandise and Marketing to accelerate category expansion.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key brand partners, positioning us as a premium marketplace destination.
• Partner with the Integrations Specialist to manage end-to-end vendor onboarding, ensuring compliance with technical, operational, and service requirements.
• Validate integration milestones and resolve onboarding issues in collaboration with third-party partners.
• Drive operational excellence through continuous review of fulfilment SLAs, stock accuracy, and order flow.
• Develop best-practice playbooks and vendor training resources to support scalable growth.
• Lead the Business Development Specialist in delivering strategies to nurture and grow vendor performance.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Trade teams to build promotional plans, marketing campaigns, and cross-category offers.
• Improve product discoverability through optimised content, category positioning, and merchandising.
• Negotiate commercial terms to improve profitability and unlock greater vendor participation in campaigns.
• Define and execute the 2–3 year marketplace and dropship growth roadmap in alignment with our digital strategy.
• Identify emerging vendor opportunities and new category expansions that support sustainable growth.
• Partner with Finance and Technology teams to evaluate investment cases for marketplace enhancements.
• Monitor marketplace performance, providing regular reporting and insights to senior leadership.
• Contribute to the design and development of the future technology platform to deliver a world-class vendor and customer experience.
• Provide vendor-centric input into feature prioritisation, integrations, and platform scalability.
• Partner with Digital Operations and Technology teams to streamline vendor workflows and reduce complexity.
• Ensure marketplace solutions support long-term operational efficiency and vendor satisfaction.

Requirements

• A deep understanding of dropship and marketplace programs, including vendor onboarding, fulfilment models, and operational dependencies that impact sales and customer experience.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to analyse sales performance, drive profitability, and develop business cases for marketplace growth initiatives.
• Proven capability in brand negotiation and trading, including experience securing favourable terms, improving margin outcomes, and unlocking vendor participation in key campaigns.
• Demonstrated expertise in vendor management, ensuring service levels are upheld, operational issues are resolved, and long-term partnerships are strengthened.
• Exceptional stakeholder and vendor-facing communication skills, with the ability to influence, build trust, and establish us as a premium retail partner of choice.
• A strategic and hands-on leadership style, combining the ability to define marketplace growth plans with the willingness to work alongside the team to deliver operational and commercial results.